Stocks jump in best day since 2015

(Bloomberg) — U.S. equities surged back from the biggest weekly rout in two years, with major benchmarks climbing more than 2.7 percent on signs that an escalation of trade tensions was beginning to ease.

The Dow closed at 24,203, a jump of 2.8 percent. The S&P 500 ended the day up 2.7 percent to reach 2,659, and the Nasdaq gained 3.3 percent to close at 7,221.

Chipmakers and banks led gains as the S&P 500 Index posted its biggest one-day jump since August 2015, while 20 stocks climbed for every one that fell. The advance erased Friday's drop, though the gauge still had a ways to go to make up all of last week's losses. Facebook Inc. was a noticeable underperformer, ending just slightly higher after the Federal Trade Commission said it has an open, non-public probe into the company's privacy practices.

The optimism toward U.S. stocks emerged after the limits of the Trump administration's willingness to embrace protectionism came into view over the weekend. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told Fox News that he's “cautiously hopeful” that China will reach a deal to avoid tariffs on $50 billion of U.S. exports, while European leaders demanded a permanent exclusion at the threat of retaliation and a deal was struck with South Korea.

The Trump administration tends “to negotiate to a more reasonable position, or more toward the center, as time goes on,” Maggie Gage, the head of Washington research at Credit Suisse Securities, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “We're cautiously optimistic that that will apply here too with the Chinese tariffs.”

Microsoft Corp.'s 7.6 percent surge was the biggest contributor to the S&P 500's advance, followed by the 4.8 percent gain in Apple Inc. Gains in financial shares were led by Comerica Inc. and Metlife Inc.

Elsewhere, 10-year Treasury yields edged higher ahead of major debt sales. The dollar dropped to a one-month low and European shares slid for a fourth day as investors remain on edge over the region's growth prospects. Brent crude traded near $70 a barrel on lingering tension in the Middle East. A measure of U.S. corporate junk bonds rose the most in a month. The euro advanced to the strongest since mid-February.